New Rules for the Acquisition of Financial Institutions in Germany

This alert discusses the new rules applicable to the acquisition of financial institutions in Germany.

The new rules are primarily the result of the transposition into German law of the so-called EU Acquisitions Directive (Directive 2007/44/EC). In a nutshell, the new rules have significantly increased the amount of information to be submitted to the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority by a potential acquirer of a significant holding in a German financial institution. In addition to the amended information requirements, this client alert addresses important new procedural aspects of the amended ownership control provisions, changes in their scope of application and the grounds based on which a proposed acquisition may be prohibited.